Washington’s economy added more than 12-thousand jobs in October, pushing the state’s unemployment to a new record low.
According to the Employment Security Department, Washington’s jobless rate dropped one-tenth of one percent from September to to 4.3 percent. The state’s labor force in October came in at 3,782,000 – an increase of 11,500 people from the previous month. The labor force is the total number of people, both employed and unemployed, over the age of 16.
Twelve industry sectors expanded, led by construction; leisure and hospitality; information; and financial activities, with gains also reported for manufacturing; professional and business services; other services; wholesale trade; transportation, warehousing, and utilities; education and health services; and mining and logging.
Only the retail trade sector experienced a loss, falling by 2,000 jobs.
Year-over-year growth exceeded 4 percent, with Washington adding some 119,000 new jobs from October 2017 through October 2018. (Employment Security Department)
